Shareholders seemed to agree, voting down a proposal to require the hamburger giant to tally the financial impact of defending its children's meals. Just 6% of shareholders voted in favor of the resolution.

"Ronald McDonald is an ambassador for McDonald's, and he is an ambassador for good," Mr. Skinner said. "He does not advertise unhealthy food to children."

Ambassadorship aside, some image consultants and consumers are beginning to question how relevant Ronald McDonald even is to kids anymore—and whether he has kept pace with McDonald's own reinvention.

McDonald's has modernized its image in recent years by remodeling restaurants around the globe with sleek new designs featuring upholstered furniture and flat-screen televisions. The chain sells frappes and fruit smoothies and offers free wi-fi to customers who want to linger.

"Mascots were heavily used in the mid part of the last century, but not so much anymore unless you're an insurance company and you have a duck or a gecko or a caveman," says Cheryl Swanson, managing partner of Toniq, a brand strategy firm. "I'm not so sure Ronald is keeping up with where the brand is going. I wouldn't be so dogmatic if I were McDonald's. I'd do a deep dive into whether he's still meaningful or a throwback to the last century."

There's no doubt that Ronald McDonald is well known. He ranks fourth in consumer awareness out of 2,800 celebrities in an index created by The Marketing Arm, an Omnicom agency.

"Ronald is recognized by more than 99% of U.S. consumers. Clearly, that's his strength," says Chris Anderson, communications director for The Marketing Arm. "Of course, just because consumers know someone doesn't mean they like them or trust them."

When it comes to likeability, Ronald McDonald ranks No. 2,109 out of more than 2,800 celebrities in the agency's index, scoring in the same neighborhood as actor David Spade and NFL quarterback Vince Young, and behind Mickey Mouse, Shrek and Cap 'n Crunch.

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Mollie Kerr, an 11-year-old sixth grader from a suburb of New York City, has strong opinions on Ronald McDonald. For starters, she says, he lacks authenticity.

"It's very fake, the whole, like, all his commercials, where he's jumping up and down, where he's always happy. You know that no one's always happy. It's silly," she says. "We have, like problems, we have earthquakes and tornadoes, we have money problems and financial problems. But in Ronald McDonald World, we have no problems, it's just happy all the time."

She also finds fault with his lack of style. "His whole image is all 1970s and he's all peppy and his clothes are all baggy," she added. "We wear skinny jeans these days, even the boys."

McDonald's counters that "kids love Ronald, and parents do too," adding that he connects with families "on relevant topics such as anti-bullying and being active."

Ronald doesn't have an official Facebook page, he doesn't send tweets nor does he use any other form of social media, a McDonald's spokeswoman says.

But that's not to say Ronald hasn't evolved since he made his television debut in 1963. During Ronald's early years, he was played by Willard Scott, who went on to fame as a "Today" show weatherman on NBC. Mr. Scott dressed up in a red and yellow jumpsuit, white gloves and large white shoes, with a soft-drink paper cup on his nose. The wig was originally blond.

In the early 1970s, Ronald McDonald got a part in his wig and his makeup was modified so that "he could now frown and grimace as well as smile," according to a company history of the character.

In recent years, Ronald has become less clownish, with more tailored attire, and has been used to promote exercise as McDonald's became a target of criticism for unhealthy eating.

"There's much less of the clowning around these days. He's not just trying to make kids laugh. That was the original goal, but now he's positioned to be someone that kids can look up to," says Cheryl Berman, who worked on Ronald's image for 20 years while at ad agency Leo Burnett, where she was chairman and chief creative officer before she left four years ago. "I think he's every bit as relevant today. Kids will always relate to characters."

ENLARGE

McDonald's came under fire when a watchdog group placed ads in papers across the country calling on the company to stop marketing to kids and to retire its longtime mascot, Ronald McDonald.
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Ronald McDonald was singled out this week by a corporate watchdog group that got more than 600 health-care professionals and organizations to sign a letter asking McDonald's to stop marketing to kids. The letter appeared in ads in six newspapers around the country on Wednesday and members of the group voiced their concerns about children's health problems at McDonald's annual meeting on Thursday.

McDonald's has been targeted by consumer and health groups in the past and to appease critics has added salads and items like oatmeal in recent years.

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